Fake News Stories Used to Sell Products and Services

The recent Ethics Follies production, “Remote Control,” shined a spotlight on what appears to be objective news reporting that is actually paid advertising or part of a news station’s political agenda. These issues are relevant in a time of information overload and limitless websites. Which sources of information can you trust to give you objective honest information?

The birth of infotainment creates a blur of news, facts, agendas, entertainment and opinions, none of which can be easily separated from the other. In the most egregious cases, “news” is used to create credibility and trust, and then a product or service is sold using the facts of the news story.

Is it reasonable to have a headline that says “News Daily 7” with streaming video of a reporter and NOT expect people to mistake it for an objective news report? When you try to close the webpage with the “news story” on it, it stops you and asks you questions to try and keep you on the page. This sort of webpage programming is frustrating and disrespectful. The only way consumers can curb this sort of behavior, short of writing letters to their Congressional representative or the Federal Trade Commission, is to stay away from misleading websites and avoid their products and services to the unethical behaviors will not be encouraged.

As the internet continues to become a useful part of our everyday lives, we will have to make conscious choices of how we shop and subscribe to services that support businesses that are ethical and reliable.